Macedonia: Assessing the social impact of rehabilitation roads

The World Bank-funded National and Regional Roads Rehabilitation Project (NRRRP) aims to enhance connectivity of selected national and regional roads in Macedonia and improve the capacity of the Public Enterprise for State Roads (implementing agency). The road rehabilitation works are to stimulate economic diversification, generate employment, and reduce the income disparity that exist between some regions in Macedonia by reducing the cost of transportation to and from the more distant regions.

IMC Worldwide had been commissioned by the World Bank to assess the impact on poverty reduction and social inclusion through improved connectivity along the rehabilitated roads within the World Bank funded-National and Regional Roads Rehabilitation Project.

The project has analysed the distributional effects of improved road connectivity with a particular focus on the poor and other vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, women and school children.

The analysis has provided Macedonia’s Public Enterprise for State Roads (PESR) with a diagnostic of existing transport constraints to then examine what the impact of improved connectivity on transportation of goods from villages/towns, access to labour markets, and access to basic public services and amenities (such as schools, hospitals etc.) among the lower income population could be along the affected project area.

The project analysis has provided a diagnostic of existing transport constraints and how these affect the poor and bottom 40 percent. Then the project examined; what the impact of improved connectivity was on transportation of goods from villages/towns, the access to labour markets, and the access to basic public services and amenities (such as schools, hospitals and etc.); among the lower income population located in the area the project affects.